Author: Catherine Deslippe

I love BC but it is time? …. I love the mountains that stay snow capped long into the summer. I love the ocean and how everyday it provides new and awaiting adventure. I love the forests, dense and left wild, bringing new life with each season. I love the look, the smells and the simplicity it all brings. But is it enough?

For all that I love of BC I equally love about my family I miss them more then ever before, maybe it the painful loss of Maggie that opened up emotions of love that I had long since let go dormant that makes me long to with them. Maybe it is this stage of aging that brings awareness for the need to have roots, to have structure, to find a new purpose or to make a long-term plan for future existence.

I can see walking hand and hand with my parents as they age through their years. Maybe its this vision that drives the need for me to be with them. I can see playing with my nephews’ kids as their lives begin to take root. I can see BBQ’s and snow filled evenings with my brother and sister in law as we plan a possible new adventure. But is it enough?

What holds me here in this place of beauty is the draw of nature and how tangible it is every day. What draws me back home is where family and roots may be waiting.

Perhaps the next hour, the day, the next moment will bring clarity and allow my two possible worlds to become one.

The moment I brought Maggie home I knew my life was changed forever, I never could have imagined just how much.

My Beautiful Maggie was complicated and needed extra attention, but for all that I gave up to care for her I received back in endless love.

Maggie taught me how to have fun but not just fun to be down right silly. To be patient thoughtful, and reflective.

Maggie taught me to take notice of everything, not just the small stuff, but everything. How to catch a smell as a breeze came through, how to find the best blades of grass for eating, how to find joy in rainstorms and find shady spots during hot summer days.

She taught me to find stillness and to just be in the moment but then to get and go no matter how many times I may not have wanted to.

Maggie gave me unconditional love, she never judged me on my worst days, she accepted my faults and yes when it came to her took a bit of advantage of my weaknesses.

She was my companion in life and will be my angel in her passing.

For those that know me, you understand the unique bond I had with Maggie. I have lost my footing, the strength that she gave to keep me grounded, my identity as her Mommy, my best friend, my soul mate.

Blue skies with white cotton ball clouds, the warmth of the sun’s rays and a hint of chill in the wind to cool you in the shadows

The sounds of birds of every species singing out to their mates, on their newest finds. Carrying branches and bits of the forest to one another as they make their nests, just in time for offspring to hatch

The forest floor rustling with critters running and playing in the joy of the day. Even fish are jumping through the waters surface, just to take a look at the beauty of the moment

And the colours, so vibrant shades of green, altered only by the paint brush of nature.

Everything is new and fresh and exciting, anything and everything is possible

One strong breeze and everything can change . The wind topples the top of a tree, with a loud bang and a snap it falls to the forest floor, where it will decay and provide food for all things in nature or it will become the nursing branch, from which news saplings will grow

One strong breeze can move clouds at amazing speed. Creating cloud formations that are joyous to watch and opening up spaces for the sun to shine through, changing a cloudy forecast to a sunny spring awakening

One strong breeze creates a playground for eagles to practice their soaring skills building strength for their powerful explosive hunting dives

One strong breeze can change a calm ocean into ripples and waves carrying in sea life for other sea creatures to have life. Washing up debris on to ocean shores, nature’s way to self clean itself from things no longer needed

Then ever so softly the sun begins to nudge holes through the misty vapours and the earth begins to warm.

Shadows and sun beams find their way through dense woods and the forest floor seems to vibrate with movement.

The first chirps of birds as if freed from forced silence, squirrels give themselves permission to scurry and scavenge again and a woodpecker works feverishly boring holes in tree bark for fresh crawlers

The stillness of the moment is replaced with a flurry of commotion as nature carries on in it’s pursuit of existence

From the moment you see their neglected lane-ways, now covered with wild grass and weeds with only a hint of the paths that lead the family home each day…to that next moment, as your eyes are drawn to the byres and ranches that have long since been forgotten.

That feeling of wistfulness for a place that I never knew….

I can imagine when this place was full of life….

Hard working families and children with chores, who have risen with the first sign of dawn to tend to their animals and fields of plenty.

The family dog dutifully next to his master as he watches over his homestead, hands calloused, skin weathered and darkened through season after season, year after year of hardships and elation for the masterpiece of existence he has created.

I can imagine the home fires burning, smoke billowing out of stone hearth chimneys, dinner on the table as mama, the matriarch, calls her family home to her.

The laughter, telling of stories and adventures, everyone eager for their chance to share the happenings of their day, as the food that was harvested by the hands of the family is passed from one to another.

I can imagine as the children grew and began to pull from the roots that once grounded them, on to other quests, the draw of the city, the dream of something bigger or just different.

Their aging parents slowly letting pieces of their homestead whither and age in time with themselves. The animals and fields either passed on or sold off, the homestead no longer a homestead.

The barns have aged, sun, rain and years of weather have transformed them into productions of art. Stunning reminders of what they once were. Nature taking them back to the land

Those last fall days, when you are walking down trails that are covered in multi coloured pine needles and fallen leaves. With smells so intense you find yourself taking one deep breath after another, trying to capture every different scent deep within in your soul.

For me, this is my love of fall.

So quiet, just a whispering wind gently pulling leaves from trees crackling as they tumble down, enough to make you stop and listen in wonder of what is out there hidden the trees.

For me, this is my love of fall

A chill in the air, the sun giving off its last bit of heat before it cools for the winter. The distant scent of a wood fire burning and the laughter of children playing.

My special place, that I call home, for when I am there I feel more at home then anywhere. I am far from family and friends, surrounded by strangers that do not seem strange or distant at all, but rather like long lost kin folk that I am sure my past spirits have known.

My special place that I call home where eagles soar in such abundance that I sit in awe and disbelief to be so blessed to live among them Their calls to one another from tree top to tree top or the power of their wings as they fly at breakneck speed to pluck their prey from the sea.

My special place that I call home, watching shore birds do their rhythmic dance, sheets of white moving and flowing so in sync with one another, their reason for their frolic or the purpose to their moves I am not aware but I can imagine the timing of their dance with a symphony of music

My special place that I call home, staring out into the sea waiting for a glimpse of the mighty Orca, but just as excited to see sea otters, seals and sea lions. I love the bark of the sea lion, sounding so grumpy as they roll along through the tides but having such silly grins on their faces. as if they are amused at something only they can see.

My special place that I call home, following deer tracks as they show their path from bush to shoreline and back again. Perhaps they too like to watch the sunrise and sunset to reflect on their day as it ends and their morning as a new one begins.

Waking and sleeping to the sounds of the waves,

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from raging pounding surf to calm lapping waters, the sounds lulling you to slumber but then rousing you with anticipation.

Every day, every moment something to see, to believe in, to remind me to live to breath to love to laugh.

The start of your new life so unencumbered, so free. To be relayed to destinations unknown by gusts of wind, that have first pulled you from your mother plant?

Winds that carry you along, asking for your trust as its transports you to the place where you will lay your first foundation,

The winds stop…. and your new struggles for live begin.

Did you find yourself perched high on a mountain top where you know your challenges will be many? Where your existence depends on finding a crack, an opening, your home to lay root?

Where the elements of nature leave you exposed and threatened with each passing day. Sun rays that beat down giving and taking life away. Where spring rains and summer storms threatened to pull you from your perch, but also where your beauty is by far the greatest of all, shared only by those that are blessed with wings, that are fortunate to fly amongst you

Did you find yourself tossed along a highway strewn with broken stones, pebbles and runabout weeds? Where storms and rains can’t harm you, but where you stand alone. and must lean learn to live with the loneliness of barren highways. Hoping that hasty cars and walk about wild life, take a moment in their passing to pay you heed, to reveal in your wild beauty and in your strength to stand alone

Or did you find yourself in the fields and countryside that your ancestors before you have spoken about, as you waited for your moment to live life. Where you are surrounded by others the same and some different, where rooting, soil, sun and rain, all make life as a wild flower seem easy in comparison. Where people travel for miles to find you, to take in all your beauty.

Yet it is here amongst so many that you struggle for uniqueness and wither away young because no challenges befell you. Nothing could make you as courageous as the roadside warrior or as strong as the mountain top beauty.

I had a friend recently send me a message asking why he had not seen any recent stories from me. I never answered Joe’s message, for the same reason I have not written. I just have not had much to say. Thank you, Joe, for reminding me to stop and write.

And perhaps it took today and spending it with my dear friend Lorraine to remind me that it is the little things that do matter.

And while the whole world seems to be teetering on the edge of a something drastic waiting to happen there is something amazing in everyday to talk about.

Today was amazing because in the midst of a sunny day, black clouds and a storm tumbled in but then in mere minutes it was gone and the blue skies opened up again. So, similar to life that it was impossible not to make the comparisons

Today was amazing because our secret spot for watching Eagles did not let us down and hundreds of this majestic bird soared over ahead. To have them so close to you, you can hear their flapping winds and the power in their soar.

Did you know that a group of Eagles is called a “Convocation” or “Brood”? Strange as “Convocation” also means a large gathering of people brought together for an assembly. And the word “Brood” can also mean, to think deeply about something that makes one unhappy. No idea how they came to be associated with the Eagles I think they deserve something more stately then these two words to describe them.

Today was amazing because on our travels we noticed a hawk on a sign post, so we pulled over to marvel in it’s beauty. The hawk trusted Lorraine so much that she was able to get within a few feet of the bird with nothing more then curious stares between the two of them.

Today was amazing because we saw Colonies of Herons working together to build their nests. Handing the other pieces of grass and leaves from beak to beak, to make just the right home for their young. Did you know that a group of Herons is called a “Siege” Strange yet again because “Siege” can mean a prolonged period of misfortune, police or military action? Who named these things?

Today was amazing because among the chaos of hectic work days, imposing winter storms that won’t let up, haggard and tired people that are mad at everyone, today it was sunny and the sun warmed every part of my being and reminded me that life is truly amazing.

Inspired to write again,

Catherine

I have included the link to Lorraine’s Photography Blog you may want to check it out to get a glimpse of the world through her lens Beauty in photos